Gmail will no longer support Windows XP and Vista come December 2017

If your daily routine involves accessing Gmail through Google Chrome on a system that’s running on Windows XP or Vista, you might want to consider transitioning over to newer pastures soon, as Google has recently announced that Gmail will no longer support Chrome browsers that are running on version 53 and below beginning December 2017.

Why are Gmail users on Windows XP and Vista being singled out? Because the most recent (and very last) Chrome version that was released for the aforementioned two operating systems is version 49. Google officially stopped churning out updates for Chrome browsers on Windows XP and Vista in April 2016.

Of course, if you’re still adamant on sticking with Windows XP and Vista, you will still be able to access Gmail via Chrome, just that you will automatically be redirected to the basic and less secure HTML version of the service in December 2017.

Not entirely sure if your Chrome browser is updated to the latest version? Google will prompt you to have it updated via a banner that will be displayed at the top of the Gmail web interface beginning this Wednesday, February 8, 2017. If you don’t see it, it could mean that your browser is already running on version 53 and above – or that you’re running on Windows XP or Vista.